1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a printing method and a printing apparatus.
2. Related Art
Printing apparatuses that perform printing by using ink (for example, UV ink) that is cured by receiving irradiation of an electromagnetic wave (for example, an ultraviolet ray (UV)) are known. In such printing apparatuses, ink is ejected onto a medium (a paper sheet, a film, or the like) from a nozzle, and then an electromagnetic wave is emitted onto dots formed on the medium. Accordingly, the dots are cured so as to be fixed to the medium. Thus, excellent printing can be performed even for a medium that cannot easily absorb liquid (for example, see JP-A-2000-158793).
When an image is printed by using UV ink, gloss is different between an area in which an image is printed and an area in which an image is not printed. Thus, a method in which the entire surface of the medium is coated with colorless transparent UV clear ink (one type of a process solution) so as to acquire uniform gloss of the surface of the medium may be considered.
However, only by coating the entire surface with a process solution such as clear ink after an image is formed by using color ink, the clear ink is aggregated in the areas in which the image is not printed, whereby the gloss may be not uniform.